Poofed
by Redvines1595
Summary: Steven poofs and no one knows what to expect.
1. Chapter 1

"Dog-copter 4. Coming soon to theatres." Steven and Connie looked at each other with wide grins as the trailer came to an end.

"Oh my gosh, it looks even better than the first three!" Steven exclaimed as he ran both of his hands through his dark curls in excitement.

"I don't know about that," Connie replied. "I mean, is it really necessary to give Dog-Copter a love interest? He's a dog... And a helicopter..."

"Well, even Dog-Copter needs someone to love and care for him," he shrugged.

Connie put her phone back into her pocket before looking back out at the ocean with a quiet sigh. The beach was always so peaceful in the late afternoon and that's what the two loved about it. The warm sun shining down on their faces. The gentle breeze blowing through their hair. The odd screeching sound in the distance...

The children looked at each other, their brows knitted together in confusion. Steven got to his feet and summoned his shield. "Come on, let's check it out," he said.

"Don't you think we should get the gems?" Connie asked as she picked up her sword off the sand.

"Nah, how bad can it be?" Steven replied with a shrug as he headed toward the sound.

Connie nodded her head uneasily and began to follow him down the beach. As the two got closer to the strange sound, they began sneaking around behind the large rocks that littered the white sand. They stopped behind one and peered out around it.

There sat Peridot in front of her escape pod. The children's eyes widened at the sight. "I thought the Crystal Gems had that locked up in the temple!" Steven whispered. "How did she get it?"

Peridot kicked the side of the escape pod in exasperation. "Work! Just work already!" The pod just continued screeching at her.

Steven stepped out from behind the rock, shield out in front of him. "Stop right there, you... you... Peridot!"

The Homeworld gem spun around with a shriek of surprise. Her eyes narrowed as she set them on the boy. "You!"

"Peridot, I'm going to give you one chance. Surrender yourself to us or... Or feel my wrath!" Steven put on his tough guy face.

Connie reached over and gently tugged on his pant leg. "Steven, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course! What could happen?" Steven regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth.

Peridot began pressing some buttons on her keypad, causing the escape pod to shoot lasers straight at the children. One hit the rock they had hidden behind before Steven had had the chance to create a bubble around them. He stepped in front of Connie, his shield in front of him, as Peridot continued to fire at them. The lasers' impact was nearly enough to knock him over. Struggling to stay on his feet, Steven produced a pink bubble to shield them.

"This is bad, Steven," Connie said. "We need help!"

Steven just stared down at his feet with a quiet sigh.

They heard a loud crack from overhead and looked up. Peridot's lasers were beginning to break through the protective bubble!

Steven glanced at Connie, noticing the scared expression on her face. This was all his fault. He should have gotten the gems to help.

There was another loud crack and the bubble shattered. Steven stepped in front of his friend to shield her from the lasers before putting up a second bubble as fast as he could.

Steven sighed softly. "I'm sorry, Connie. I thought we'd be able to handle this, but... I have no idea what I'm doing. But I promise that we'll get out of this. Whatever it takes."

Connie furrowed her brows at him as the bubble began to crack once more. Steven focused all his energy on the crack until it finally healed.

However, the little boy wasn't used to using so much of his power at once. Steven's legs buckled beneath him in exhaustion.

"Steven!" Connie called out and knelt down next to him as the ruckus in front of them came to a halt.

Peridot turned around to look at the pod in confusion. She hit some buttons on her keypad. "Low battery?!" She exclaimed in disbelief before proceeding to kick the pod. "Stupid. Stupid technology. Ugh!" The gem turned back to Steven and Connie, glaring at them. "Until next time, clods." With that, she lifted her arm, converted to helicopter mode, and flew away.

Connie stood and held her hand out to Steven. "Come on. We need to get you home."

Steven nodded and took her hand, pulling himself to his feet. He dusted off his jeans and furrowed his brows. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Connie asked.

Steven looked around for the source of the cracking sound. Finally, he looked up at the cliff just as the rock began to fall. "Connie! Look out!"

The girl didn't have much time to react as Steven pushed her out of the way and into the sand. When she looked back, he was gone. Carefully, she got up to her feet and stared in awe at the crumbled pieces of the boulder that had fallen where she had stood a moment before. "Steven?" She said quietly.

Connie swallowed thickly before slowly approaching the rubble. There was no sign of Steven anywhere. "Steven!" She called out.

The sun moved out from behind a cloud and shined on something in the sand. Connie, curious, went over to it, gasping as she realised what it was. Steven's gem.

Hesitating, Connie carefully picked up the pink gem and cradled it in her palms. "Oh, Steven..." She sniffled as tears began to form in her eyes.

Biting her lip gently, she held back a sob and made her way back to the temple, keeping her eyes on the gem in her hands. Connie carefully opened the screen door and walked inside. "H-Hello?" She called out, but there was no answer.

Connie sat on the couch and looked down at Steven's gem in her hands as tears finally began to stream down her face. She let out quiet sobs as the Crystal Gems returned on the warp pad.

"Hey, Connie!" Amethyst called as she jumped off the pad, heading for the fridge. Neither she nor Pearl noticed that Garnet stood frozen on the warp pad.

Pearl furrowed her brows as she went over to the girl. "Connie, where's Steven?"

Connie began to sob loudly, shaking her head. "I-I'm s-sorry! Steven, h-he... Perid-dot... Lasers... Th-they m-must have h-hit the c-cliff..."

Pearl looked down at Connie's hands and gasped when she saw Steven's gem. "No..." That was all she could say.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the wait! Here's the next chapter. It's kinda short, but I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the month. Enjoy!**

Pearl stared down at the pink gem in Connie's hands and shook her head. "No," she said. "No, no, no!" She took the gem from the girl and fell to her knees, letting out a quiet sob.

Amethyst looked over at her from the kitchen with furrowed her brows. "You okay, there, P?" She went over to her and gasped when she saw Steven's gem in Pearl's hands.

The house was silent except for the occasional quiet sob from Connie. Everyone was shocked by what had happened. They didn't know what to do. "Pearl?" Amethyst asked quietly. "He's going to be okay, right? He's a gem. He's one of us. He… He'll regenerate like we do."

Pearl just shook her head, not taking her eyes off Steven's gem. "I… I don't know, Amethyst. He's part human. He… He could be…"

She finally lifted her gaze from the pink gem when she heard the rumble of Greg's van pulling up to the house. Pearl looked to Garnet; she had always been better at talking to Greg, but she hadn't moved from the warp pad. With a heavy sigh, she gently handed Steven's gem over to Amethyst. "Take care of Steven. I'm going to tell Greg what happened."Amethyst simply nodded as she sat down next to Connie, gently cradling Steven in her hands.

Pearl wiped her eyes and took a deep breath before meeting Greg at the stairs that led up to the front door. "Hey, Pearl," the man replied in his usual cheery tone. "Are the kids around? I'm supposed to give Connie a ride back home and it's getting kinda late."

"Greg…" Pearl looked down as she searched for the words to say. "Something's happened to Steven…"

Greg instinctively reached out and grabbed the railing to brace himself, eyes going wide. "What happened? Is he okay?"

Pearl sniffled softly. "I-I don't know. He… He did it to save Connie. Greg, I'm so sorry. I should have been there to protect him, but I wasn't and-"

"Pearl," Greg said softly, reaching out to give her hand a light squeeze. "It's okay. It's not your fault." He let out a shaky breath. "He'll just regenerate, right? We'll wait until he comes back?"

"That's all we can do for now. Greg… I don't even know if he will regenerate."

"He will," he assured her. "He's my son and a gem. He'll be fine. Just believe in Steven."

Pearl nodded her head slowly, still unable to meet Greg's gaze. She stayed put as he went inside to fetch Connie and then watched as they both got into the van and drove away.

Once they were out of sight, Pearl sat down on the steps and finally allowed herself to cry. It was her fault that this had happened. She should have kept a better watch over him. She should never have left. She should have taken care of Peridot months ago. There are so many things she should have done to protect Steven, but she failed and now he might never come back. "I'm sorry," she said softly as she sobbed into her hands. "I'm so sorry, Rose."


End file.
